Memory's Key
by ZeratheNightDancer
Summary: She was made to be the key to an ultimate power. But now she's starting a new life with no memories of her past. With Sora, Riku and the others, will Kairi be able to hold on to her normal life? Or will she be stolen away to her past?
1. New Beginnings

**Memory 1: New Beginnings**

Gods, why, oh why did she have to come to this place? She didn't know anybody! She'd never been good at making friends no matter how often she moved. And that was a lot ever since she'd been taken in by her foster parents Sophie and Richard. The red head sighed as she walked into her assigned dorm room. Hopefully the person she shared with was nice. Last time, though she didn't live in a dormotory that time, she'd just about started another war with one of those girls who have all the guys following her and obeying her every whim. Girls with attitudes like that just really got on her nerves. She stopped in the doorway, which she found was open for some unknown reason, and stared.

To say she was shocked was a bit of an understatement. She kept staring, and staring, and staring, not really sure what to say about anything. She snapped out of the trance as a voice sounded.

"Hiya! Are you my new roommate?" it asked. Kairi looked around, confused as to where it was coming from. Suddenly a brunette haired girl with emerald green eyes appeared, grinning happily at her. A blue shirt sat on top of her head, which she noticed as Kairi stared at it, and pulled it off quickly, she cheeks tinting pink from embarrassment.

"Ehehehe. Sorry for the mess. It always gets like this whenever I unpacked," the girl said. Kairi smiled. So she wasn't the only one always moving. She set her stuff down on the other unmade bed.

"That's okay. I'll help you clean up after I'm done unpacking my stuff. I've learned how to unpack pretty quickly without making a mess," she said. The brunette looked at her with surprise.

"So you've moved around a lot too?" she asked.

"Yeah. With my foster parents. Dad's job always hopped us from one place to another. I've never really stayed anywhere for very long. Or at least, not that I can remember. I'm Kairi by the way," the red head replied. The other simply grinned in response.

"Ooh. Cool. My dad's job moved us a lot too. They just kind of found this place and stuck me here last year," she said. The brunette then grinned happily at her. "Well, I'm Selphie and welcome to Destiny High (1), roomie! I think we'll get along just fine!"

"I hope so," Kairi said with a smile. They laughed, and then went back to unpacking their things. They talked a bit about their families and where they had been before their parents sent them to the school.

"This is my second year here. They moved me over to this room though because my other roommate had a complaint about me. I can't imagine why," Selphie told her newfound friend.

"Really? You seem so nice, I don't know why someone would make a complaint about you," Kairi said. She was now sitting on the floor with her back leaning against Selphie's bed as the brunette girl lied on her back with her head hanging off over the edge of the bed. She shrugged, a gesture that looked odd as she was upside down.

"I dunno. Something about me being too noisy when she was trying to study or something. She never really liked me anyway, so I'm kind of glad that I don't have to room with her again," Selphie told her.

"So do you have any friends I should meet? It'd be nice if I could make lots of friends since I'm actually going to be staying in one spot for a while," Kairi asked. The brunette's face lit up, and she flipped off the bed skillfully until her foot got caught and she face vaulted into the floor. Kairi laughed at the sight.

"Smooth Selphie," she said. Said girl simply grinned up at her, and pushed herself up.

"Okay, time to go meet Sora and Riku! I just know you'll like them, and then, we can go see Wakka and Tiddy!" she said happily as she bounced towards the door, dragging Kairi behind her.

"…Tiddy?"

"Yes, Tiddy! That's my nickname for Tidus! He acts like he doesn't like it, but I know he doesn't really mind. I used to know him when we were younger, but then I had to move. I was pretty surprised when I found out he went to this school too," Selphie explained. Kairi looked around, letting Selphie take her wherever they were going. She thought of how quickly she'd made a friend this time. It was record speed for her, and hopefully Selphie's friends were nice too. Suddenly she was thrown out of her thoughts as Selphie shouted.

"Sora! Riku! Lookie! It's my new roommate!" she yelled. Two boys turned from their conversation to look at the brunette and red head. One, the taller of the two, had unusually silver hair and aqua green eyes along with pale skin that didn't seem like it would do much of anything if exposed to the sun. He seemed more muscular than the brunette next to him. Said brunette was shorter, and his spiky brown hair only reached up to eye level of the other boy. He had expressive blue eyes that smiled along with his mouth as he saw his friend. The silverette stayed impassive for the most part, but you could see the slightest hint of a smile on the corner of his lips if you looked close enough. The pair stopped in front of the boys, and Selphie pushed the other in front of her.

"This is Kairi, my new roomie!" she said proudly.

"What happened to Riona?" the silver haired boy asked.

"She sent in a complaint or something about not wanting to be my roommate this year," Selphie replied.

"So they stuck you with…Kairi, right?" the brunette asked. Kairi nodded and looked around some more, taking in the scenery.

"What's she looking at?" Sora asked.

"This is her first year here, so everything's kind of new to her. But anyway, you guys need to introduce yourselves," Selphie said.

"Oh! Right," Sora said, rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish grin. "I'm Sora!"

"Riku," was all that the silver haired boy said. Kairi looked at them and smiled a bit.

"I'm Kairi…it's nice to meet you," she said politely.

"Nice to meet you too! I hope you like it here," Sora said.

"She might if you stopped acting like an idiot all the time," Riku said playfully. The brunette boy pouted.

"I don't act like an idiot! At least…not all the time," he said. Kairi laughed at this.

"I think I'll definitely like it here if I'm around you guys. That is, if you want me around," she said.

"Sure, it's fine," Sora told her.

"Yeah. Once Selphie finds a new friend, they usually stick with us for the most part. With the exception of the ones she's scared away in past years," Riku said. It was Selphie's turn to pout.

"It's not my fault they can't handle me when I'm on a sugar high. And that last one was a result of staying up all night _and _sugar. I wouldn't have been like that if you guys hadn't made me watch that stupid horror movie," she said. They all laughed at this. Kairi smiled to herself. They were...nice and a bit strange, but in a good way. She always did find strange people to be the more interesting ones. At least she had some friends now, and she wouldn't have to leave them for a long while.

"So you're rooming with Selphie right? Do your parents move a lot, or do they just not want you at the house?" Sora asked. Kairi shrugged.

"I've moved around for as long as I can remember, which is about since I was eight, and this is the first time I'm going to be staying in one place for more than two or three months," she said. They gave her strange looks, which she returned with a confused one.

"You don't remember anything from before you were eight?" Riku asked.

"No. I've tried remembering, but everything's just all fuzzy. My foster parents said they found me somewhere over on the mainland in a village near some kind of war zone, and I've been with them ever since. The said I have amnesia or something, but that's okay with me. If they found me where they told me they had, then I'd rather live without the painful memories even if I would like to know who my real parents are," Kairi told them. They were all surprised she could talk about something like that with such ease.

"So you're a war child. Riku's one of them too except he doesn't have any foster parents," Selphie said. Kairi turned to the aforementioned boy with curious eyes.

"My aunt and uncle took me in, but they never liked my parents so they basically kicked me out. They said they'd pay for my schooling, but that's pretty much it," he replied. He'd accepted the facts already, and didn't seem bothered by it, as others might have been.

"And what about you Sora? I already know about Selphie," Kairi asked.

"It's not that interesting. My mom lives nearby, so I'm still living with her. My dad passed away when I was still little, so I don't really remember him all that well," Sora told her truthfully.

"Well that's okay. You can always ask your mom about him though," Kairi suggested.

"I know. I just don't want to make her sad is all. I remember her being really upset about the whole thing," he replied.

"Have you met Tidus and Wakka yet?" Riku asked. It seemed that he was opening up more to her as the time he spent around the red head grew.

"I was going to introduce them to her after we met up with you guys, so we could go do that now if you guys don't mind," Selphie said.

"Sure," Riku said.

"That's fine with me. They're probably over at the gym playing blitzball again though," Sora said. Selphie giggled.

"I kind of figured that's where they'd be," she said. "Come on. It's time to go meet those knuckleheads, Kairi."

The red head nodded with a smile. She was so glad she was able to make so many friends so quickly. So, so very happy.

* * *

"This," the brunette girl said, gesturing to the large dome gym, "is the gym."

They entered, and Kairi stared in awe at the space inside. She'd never been to a school with a gym this big before…

"Wow…it's huge!" she exclaimed. Sora grinned.

"Yeah. That's what most people say when they see it," he told her. Riku had gone ahead when he had spotted the two other boys they were looking for.

"Yo! Wakka, Tidus!" he called out, gaining their attention. He waved the over, and pointed to Selphie and the others. They nodded and went to grab their towels.

"Hey! Where'd Tidus and Wakka go? I saw them there a second ago…" Selphie said as Riku returned.

"I told them to come over here. Don't worry, they're coming," he told her. Selphie nodded and turned back to help Sora explain blitzball once again. Neither was doing a very good job.

"Hey guys."

"What's up, ya?"

"Hey Wakka, hey Tidus. How's it going?" Sora asked. A blonde with a tall orange haired boy beside him had now joined the group.

"Same as always, man," the orange haired boy replied. The blonde noticed Kairi and looked her up and down.

"Who's the chick?" he asked. Sora and Riku rolled their eyes, knowing what their friend was thinking.

"She's my new roommate," Selphie told him.

"What happened to Riona?" the blonde asked, repeating the same question asked earlier.

"She didn't want to room with me again, so they sent me to a new room," she said.

"Hmm, I can only imagine why…" he said with a quiet snicker. Selphie glared, though it only looked like a pout to the others, at the boy and hit him over the head. The other boy with him, as well as the others, laughed at the spectacle. He then turned to Kairi with a smile as Selphie and the blonde boy bickered some more.

"So what's your name?" he asked.

"It's Kairi. Nice to meet you," she said confidently.

"Nice to meet you too, ya. I'm Wakka. This one over here is Tidus. He's nice but horny," the taller one replied. Kairi's cheeks tinted pink at that, where as Tidus, having heard that last part, pouted much like Selphie had, but with more of a glare to it.

"Thanks Wakka. That's a great way for you to introduce your best friend to a new girl," he said sarcastically. Wakka simply smirked, and Tidus ended up sticking out his tongue childishly at his friend.

"Now, now, that's enough fighting, children. You'll leave a bad impression on poor Kairi," Selphie said as she hugged the red head with dramatic flourish.

"Like you haven't already?" Tidus asked. He was answered by another angry whack from Selphie. Kairi smiled and laughed with the others. Oh yes, she would most definitely like it here with these people. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea for her parents to leave her here after all…

* * *

**A/N:** Yesh I have started a new story. For those of you who have read _Broken Then Mended Hearts_, this is the new story that I was making in place of that one. Yes, the other one is being discontinued. It's all explained in the note I've posted in the story if you want to know. There are definitely some differences in this one such as no Twilight and Fayte. You'll see who they are replaced by when we get to the chapter. There will also be a couple chapters before the actual adventuring begins too. I wanted more fun stuff before it got all dark-ish and stuffs. So hopefully you will all like it and not smite me for making any of the changes in this. I'm going to be focusing on this story for a while, so if you read any of my other stories they'll be on a bit of a hold. I'll still be working on them, but this story what I'm mainly working on now. I really want this story to be successful, so please leave a review to tell me if you liked it or not. Thank yas!

**1) **Destiny High- yes, I know that it's an unoriginal name, but I couldn't come up with anything better. Let's just say that it was named after the island.


	2. Fun and Games

**Disclaimer:** kingdom hearts, and all of it's wonderful characters do not belong to me. if they did, we'd all be screwed,

**Memory 2: Fun and Games**

Saying he was simply bored was too much of an understatement. No, he was more like super-duper bored…or something of the like. He sighed dramatically and leaned his head onto his palm. Even though it might have been counted as a good thing that he didn't have to do anything at the moment didn't mean he wouldn't want to be doing something. Then again, he was working in a coffee shop…in the middle of the day when it was hottest outside. Who the hell would want to come get a coffee now?! Then again there were the ice coffees that they sold…

The bell tinkled signaling a costumer had come. Finally! A savior from the boredom! He gave another sigh before picking himself up to stand straight and greet the person. Immediately he smiled, this time not the artificial I-have-to-smile-or-I'll-get-fired smile, but a genuine one, as he noticed who stood before him. They each gave him hugs which he didn't mind receiving. Had they been from anyone else, he would've shoved them away. But no, these were some of his closest friends, Sora and Kairi.

"You have no idea how glad I am to see you," he said.

"We love you too Riku," Sora said.

"Is it really that boring here?" Kairi asked.

"No. I just love standing here all day with no one to talk to. Of course it's boring," the silverette replied sarcastically. Kairi laughed at that.

"Well then, shall we cure his boredom Kai?" Sora asked.

"Of course," she replied. Riku's eyes widened.

"Ooooh, no you don't," he said quickly. "I don't need to be fired because of you two, even if it _is_ fucking boring here. You'll have to wait until my shift is over."

"Hey Riku!" a voice yelled from the back room.

"Yeah?" the silverette yelled back.

"You can go now if ya want. Not much business comin' through this time 'a day," the voice said.

"Alright. Thanks!" Riku called. He grinned at his friends. "Okay…now you can goof off."

Sora and Kairi grinned. He barely had time to take off his 'uniform' before his hyper friends had dragged him outside.

"Aaah, nice, good, clean fresh air! Better than those coffee shops," Kairi said. Both boys looked at her.

"What? You guys know I'm not a coffee fanatic," she said simply, and skipped off ahead. The boys followed until she stopped suddenly.

"What's wrong?" Riku asked.

"Uhhh," she said, turning around with a sheepish look on her face. "I don't know where we're going…"

Sora laughed at that where as Riku simply rolled his eyes with a smile on his face.

"Well, anyone have any ideas?" Riku asked. Sora raised his hand enthusiastically.

"Oh, oh, oh! I know, I know!" he exclaimed. "Let's go to the arcade." He then turned on the puppy dog pout, knowing the two couldn't resist. Kairi laughed.

"Sounds great," she said. Riku agreed, and they were off. Kairi laughed softly as the boys started bickering once again. It'd been a couple of months now, and she'd gotten used to their competitive natures. No longer shy, she'd always be the one to speak her mind and have a good time. She'd come to learn how to get Riku to join them in the fun when he was being a hard ass. She'd also learned how Sora acted when with Selphie on a sugar high and how to stop him. Then again, she'd join them occasionally just for kicks and to annoy Riku. That's was always fun, as long as they didn't over do it…

Speaking of Selphie, Kairi spotted her with two familiar, blitz ball loving boys.

"Selphie," she shouted, not bothering to tell the others why she was shouting her friend's name. "Wakka, Tidus! Over here!" She waved them over, and they happily obliged.

"Hey guys," Tidus said.

"I thought you were at work Selphie," Kairi said as the brunette girl stopped by her.

"I did, but my shift ended a little while ago," Selphie replied.

"We were going to the arcade now. You guys wanna join us?" Sora asked.

"We'd love to," Selphie answered for the boys before they could decline and go to their beloved blitzball. Tidus and Wakka groaned about their friend answering for them, but smiled anyway, knowing they'd have a good time anyway. And so they headed for the arcade.

* * *

"Take that you undead bastard!" Tidus yelled as he pulled the trigger once again, blowing up another zombie in the game.

"Damn it! I died again!" Wakka shouted as his screen turned black and blinked game over. He frowned and put the gun back down in the socket. He decided he had wasted enough quarters on the zombie-killing game. He turned around to see Sora and Selphie trying to pull his new red headed friend onto a blinking platform with arrows, otherwise known as Dance Dance Revolution.

"No, you guys both know how uncoordinated I am!" the red head shouted. Selphie rolled her eyes.

"Oh come on. I'm at least ten times more uncoordinated than you," she said.

"And you willingly admit that?" Riku said.

"Damn proud of it too!" she replied with a grin. Riku rolled his eyes and waited for the red head to join him upon the platform. The two finally got her up there, and Riku started the game.

"Do I really have to?" Kairi asked as the screen loaded.

"Yes," they all said at once. Kairi pouted, but waited patiently as Riku selected the modes and difficulty levels for both of them. He put Kairi on light mode since she was relatively new to the game, while he set his to heavy.

"Don't worry, Riku'll start you out easy," Selphie told her.

"Yup! We'll help you from the sidelines too!" Sora said happily.

"Thanks," Kairi said sarcastically, but smiled just the same. Riku selected a song that went relatively slow and didn't have too many arrows right after another.

"Okay, now find the beat of the song. It almost always helps when you're first starting out," Riku told her. Kairi nodded, and began to nod her head to the beat of the music the machine played.

"Alright, now you're going to hit the arrow on the pad that matches the one coming up the screen when it aligns with that row of arrows at the top," he said.

"Alright…" she said unsurely. But as luck would have it, she hit the first arrow that came at her dead on. She grinned at her triumph and Sora and Selphie both cheered her on. She got ready for the next, and all the ones after that. At the end of the song, she felt she had done rather well for never playing it before. She did miss some arrows and just barely get others, but besides those, she felt she was getting the hang of it. And because of that, she wanted to do it again. She told them and Riku selected another song, still easy, but a bit harder than the other.

Again she did better than she had expected, and it left her wanting to do more, to play harder songs. Riku selected more songs, and he and Sora would switch occasionally. Eventually Selphie hopped in to replace Kairi on the machine. Tidus and Wakka got up there once or twice but neither was very good. They goofed around but managed to stay just above the game over limit. As the blonde and red haired boys jumped off of the machine for the third time, Riku approached Sora.

"Want to do it?" he asked. Sora grinned and answered by hopping onto the dance pad. They selected 'double' this time instead of 'versus', and set the level to standard this time instead of heavy. Kairi looked at Selphie with a questioning glance to which the brunette replied simply, "Just watch."

As the song was selected, a small crowd had gathered, seeming to know what the two boys were about to do. The boys looked at each other with a grin and nodded as the song started. Immediately both began to dance about the pads, each hitting the arrows as they came to each pad. Sometimes they would switch pads, and sometimes one would sit back as they other would dance around, pressing each arrow with practiced grace, and then switch with the other.

The song and spectacle ended, and the crowd cheered for the small routine, wanting more. Riku and Sora consented and played two more songs, once again, both dancing around and switching, and seeming to wait until the last minute to hit an arrow yet still get a 'perfect' on it. Kairi sat by, amazed at the performance while Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka watched on with mild interest, all having seen each routine multiple times while the two were practicing for a competition that had come by the year before.

At last the two boys stepped off the platform, letting some other kids have a go at the game. Kairi approached them with a star-struck gaze still in her eyes that had been left from their performance.

"That was amazing! How did you do that?" she exclaimed. Riku smirked and Sora grinned happily while the others just rolled their eyes.

"There was a convention that came by this place last year, and they had a DDR competition set up," Riku explained.

"Riku and I wanted in, so we made routines and auditioned," Sora added.

"Did you make it in? Did you win?" Kairi asked eagerly.

"They made it in," Selphie started. Tidus cut in to finish, "but they didn't compete because Sora got the flu the week of the competition."

"Oh, well that sucks," Kairi said.

"Yeah. It was all Sora's fault we couldn't compete. It broke my little heart," Riku said, sniffing in a fake manner as though he were about to cry. Sora pouted and punched him in the arm as Riku laughed.

"It is not my fault!" he defended. "Besides, you got to compete in singles. I didn't get to do anything!"

Riku ruffled the brunette boy's hair as he pouted even more.

"Yeah, yeah. But I didn't get that far in it, so don't be such a whiney baby about it," he said teasingly. Sora stuck his tongue out at the silverette who simply rolled his eyes in return with a smile on his face.

"Hey, so where we goin' to dinner, ya?" Wakka asked, cutting in on the small dispute. Sora smiled at this change of subject.

"My mom said we can eat at my house, so you guys don't have to suffer through buying the school's 'food'," he told them.

"All in favor for eating at Sora's house?" Tidus said. Everyone raised their hands.

"Alright, so dinner at Sora's it is!" Tidus exclaimed. With that, they left the arcade. Kairi sighed in relief at not buy school food. She usually went out to buy her breakfast, lunch or dinner, but didn't have enough time that morning. Let's just say her experience with the food wasn't so good…

"What's with the sigh?" Selphie asked as she noticed her friend's relief.

"I don't think the school food likes me much," Kairi replied truthfully.

"What gives you that idea?"

"…"

"Come, it can't be that bad."

"That's what you say because you never buy it."

"Because I never trusted school food after fifth grade. But that's besides the point."

"Then you really shouldn't trust this school's food."

"Why…?"

"…The eggs this morning ate my fork…" **(1)**

"…"

"Exactly."

* * *

It had been about a week since the day at the arcade, and it was once again the weekend. The trio had decided to see a movie. They would have been a quartet had Selphie not needed to go to work at the time. But anyway…

"God, never take me to another scary movie again!"

"Chill, Sora. I thought you'd be able to take a scary movie at least," Riku said.

"Oh, and you weren't freaked out by that girl popping out of no where?" Sora accused. Riku glared at the brunette who returned the gesture while Kairi laughed. She had been the only one not scared during the movie. Sure, the things popping up when you least expected caused her to squeak, but only out of surprise, not fear.

She'd grown up watching scary movies with her foster parents. She'd gotten so used to them that they hardly bothered her now. Apparently they still scared her friends though.

"Oh come on. I thought it was a good movie," she said as she began walking down the sidewalk.

"Well yeah, sure," Sora agreed, more than a little sarcastic, "that is, if you like freakish things like that!"

"I do," she replied easily. Sora and Riku looked at her like she had lobsters crawling out of her ears. "What? I grew up watching mostly scary movies. They don't bother me, and I find them fun to watch."

They still stared at her, not believing that they were more scared than their female friend. Not that they were sexist, they just thought a small, polite girl like her (they couldn't really say quiet since she was around Sora a lot), she would be the one screaming her head off in the theater when the music began to get even the slightest bit mysterious or creepy. Kairi rolled her eyes, and continued walking.

"Hey Kai, what's the time?" Sora asked as he caught up with her.

"Oh yeah. You have work today don't you?" she said. He nodded.

"Yeah. My shift starts at about four," he told her. She looked at her watch.

"Well you better hurry over 'cause you've got ten minutes," she said with a chuckle.

"Shit!" Sora cursed as panic spread over his face. "I gotta go guys. See you tomorrow!"

Kairi and Riku simply looked after their spastic brunette friend with amused faces as he continually yelled, "I'm late! I'm gonna be soooo late! Damn it!" and then laughed some more as an old lady stopped him in his rush to reprimand him on his language, therefore stalling him five more minutes causing him to curse even more. Not a very productive talk, was it?

Kairi laughed even more, and Riku looked at her with a smirk, having an idea why she was acting the way she was.

"You told him the wrong time didn't you," Riku said. Kairi grinned and simply showed him her wristwatch that showed the time was only about 3:15. Riku burst out laughing. Sora was rushing for nothing, although maybe he'd be on time for once. Sora was lucky to have a boss that didn't care if he came in late, as long as it wasn't more than 30 minutes to an hour. Poor Sora...

Their laughing fit died down until they were just smiling at each other.

"Hey, let's go to the beach," Riku said. Kairi nodded happily, and followed her silver haired friend.

* * *

Kairi ran happily along the shoreline where the waves came up, her shoes sinking into the sands and getting wet with seawater. She laughed with delight as yet another wave came up. Riku took his time, strolling up to where the auburn haired girl played with a smile on his face. She looked so much like a child to him; it made him wonder how she could ever be serious, though he knew she could be level headed when it came down to it. Still, this part of her he wanted to preserve. He wanted to protect her childish innocence because there was no way he could have saved his own.

Kairi suddenly ran to him and pulled him up to a place where the waves just barely reached, and pulled him down to sit with her.

"Come on, let's build a sand castle!" she cried with a grin.

"I think I'd rather pass," Riku replied. "Isn't building sand castles for little kids, anyway?" Kairi pouted at his blunt refusal.

"Aww, what's the fun in not acting like a kid every once in a while? Technically we still are, even if I'm 16 and you're 17," she said. Riku rolled his eyes.

"Fine, kids littler than us," he said. "Like, 4 or 5, or something like that."

"So? Adults do it all the time too ya know," Kairi argued.

"They only do it because they have kids to entertain," Riku easily returned.

"Oh boo-hoo. You're no fun at all Riku," she said sticking her tongue out at the silverette. She threw a handful of wet sand at the boy, hitting him in the chest. "Come on, live a little!"

Riku looked at the sand on his chest in surprise, which turned into a smirk as he grabbed some wet sand near him. She wanted a sand fight; he'd give her one.

"No fun? I'll show you-" he was cut off as he was hit in the face with more sand. Kairi's laughter could be heard as he frantically spat sand out of his mouth. He glared at her. Oh, it was on now.

"That wasn't fair!" he whined. Kairi only giggled some more.

"So? You were going to hit me, so I just hit you before you could!" she replied. Simple logic, but it fired him up all the same.

Riku frowned and picked up more sand, as he had dropped what he had when she hit him the second time. He threw it after her, but Kairi was already up and running away from him.

The red head was laughing her head off in delight, and soon the laughter became contagious as Riku laughed along with her. Both chased each other around the beach, throwing sand, or dodging what was thrown at them.

Riku knew his inner child had been damaged long ago. He knew that the day he'd met Sora and the others, it had begun to heal. It hadn't been enough to revive it too much though. But ever since this girl came. This girl who was a war child like him, and who knew the pain of losing her family, even if she didn't remember it. This girl who still always laughed and smiled like she had no troubles at all. She was the one who was really healing him. And he wanted her to heal him.

Finally they were out of breath from running around. Vaguely Riku wondered how she had the stamina enough to keep up with him. Sora usually always tired before him, and yet Kairi seemed to be on the same level as him. He shook the thoughts from his head as he noticed they were both covered in sand that stuck to their skin, hair and clothes. Both were still laughing too.

"Hey, I've got an idea," Riku said suddenly. Kairi gave him a curious look, asking him what it could possibly be. He smirked, and picked her up, bridle style, and began walking into the ocean. When they were in deep enough, and Kairi was fairly certain of what he was going to do to her, he dropped her into the cold seawater, cutting her scream off short as her head went under. Riku laughed, but stopped suddenly as he didn't see her come up. He didn't mean to hurt her.

"Kai? Kairi?" he called out worriedly. What if she hit her head on a rock? He looked around, into water for any sign of her. He never heard her come up behind him as he looked around. By the time he did notice her it was too late. Kairi jumped on him, pushing him underwater suddenly, taking him with her. When they came up this time, it was Kairi's turn to laugh.

"Hey! What was that for?!" he exclaimed.

"What do you think? You dropped me in the water, so I decided to push you in," she replied easily. Riku rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he said.

"Well at least we aren't sandy anymore," she told him. She took his hand in hers and pulled him to the shore once again, sitting down. He fought a blush at the simple gesture she had made. "Now come on, you've acted like a kid so far. Let's build a sand castle!"

Riku sighed in defeat, but smiled despite that. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all. He looked at Kairi with soft eyes as she gathered sand, oblivious to him. For the girl who smiled and laughed like there were no troubles in the world. For the girl who was healing him. A strange feeling had entered the pit of his stomach, and it wasn't one he disliked, not one he wanted to go away. He knew what it was, and he was glad that this girl, with her childish innocence, caused it appear in him.

"Riku, aren't you going help? You're not doing anything at all!" Kairi whined, but smiled anyway. Riku chuckled a bit.

"Okay, okay, I'll help," he said. He began gathering sand as she'd been doing earlier.

He glanced at her again, and smiled when her eyes met his. For all the time he'd known her, though it wasn't all that long, he knew what he felt. And he'd never felt it before, until her. Yes, Riku was finally in love, and he was damned proud of it too.

* * *

**A/N:** yesh! Another chapter finished! Sorry this took longer than expected. I'd been hoping to get this up last week, but so many things came up, I never got a chance to sit down long enough to finish typing up the chappie. But it's up now, so be happy. I really wanted to show how the relationship between Riku and Kairi was developing in this chapter. I will not give you any details on whether or not this is a Riku/Kairi story, so if you want to know, you can keep reading. Next chapter will be a lot more eventful than this one, I think. Well, hope you're enjoying the story! Please review and tell me how you like it. Don't care if you flame, because flames will be used to make me hot chocolate...what? I like hot chocolate, even if it's summer...

**1) **"…The eggs this morning ate my fork…" **- **This actually happened to my friend. Mind you, it was a plastic fork, but the eggs still ate it! Plus, they were cut into perfect square-ish rectangles, and if you dropped them on the table, they'd bounce…freakish isn't it? And yet, they were still edible. Yikes...


	3. Save Me

**A/N:** Okay, so the note's going before the chappie this time. Well, I hope you're enjoying this so far. This definitely has some action and a little bit of angst/drama type stuffs. I'm glad I feel like I need more fluff in this story, but nobody's really together yet that I can do it with. It kind of gets me frustrated for some reason...but anywho. There will be more actiony stuffs after maybe the next one or two chapters, so get ready. The real plot line is just beginning, and I hope you all will like it. Now, please enjoy the chappie. Things are about to speed up!

**Disclaimer:** No I don't own KH...I wonder if I even put this in the first chapter...whoops...

* * *

**Memory 3: Save Me**

"I expect you all to have this done by next Tuesday. Please feel free to visit each other over the weekend to work on it, but I expect no shameful behavior from the students staying in the dorms," the teacher said sternly. Kairi leaned over to Sora, her assigned partner, with a snigger.

"What's shameful is the make up she's wearing. I can't decide if she's wearing stage make up, or trying to look like a clown," she whispered. Both laughed quietly, but the older woman heard them unfortunately and sent them an icy glare. They quieted immediately, but began again as she turned away from the pair. It was true what Kairi said about her make up. Though she was rather old, she continued putting on mountains of make up. Stage make up tended to be exaggerated so the actor's complexion and other features would look normal to people in the audience, but a classroom was no stage. There was definitely no need for _that_ much make up, surely. But it seemed the teacher thought there was, and today there apparently was a need to wear neon green eye shadow as well even if she wasn't wearing anything to match the bright color.

The bell rang, and students milled out of the room chattering about their projects and what they could possibly do it on. Sora and Kairi walked down the hall together, having their next classes near each other.

"So what or who should we do for our project?" Kairi asked.

"Umm…how about we do it on something contemporary? Like the war or something," Sora suggested. Kairi thought for a moment.

"I guess. We could gather some articles and compare this war to past wars," she said.

"And then we could interview people on how they feel about it," Sora added happily.

"Okay. We can start interviewing people about it today, and then we can gather some articles and put it together on the weekend!" Kairi said.

"Alright, why do we do it at my house then. I'm sure mom won't mind you coming over. She really seems to like you anyway," Sora said. The red head nodded in agreement as the two neared their next classes.

"See you at lunch!" she exclaimed, and then skipped into the classroom. Sora smiled after her, and stared where she had been for a few moments more before disappearing into his class as well.

* * *

"You know what to do right?" asked the petite blonde girl. She stood next to another blonde, a boy this time, looking out at the night sky. It wasn't much to look at for you could never really see the stars, but they liked it just the same. It gave them a sense of freedom; one they could never quite achieve. The male sighed.

"Yeah. I just wish I didn't have to," he said. The girl threw him a sympathetic look as he turned to leave the room.

"Be careful," she whispered, double meaning hidden in the words. He looked back at her.

"Aren't I always?" he said with a small smile.

"Tch." She turned away from the boy with a small smile at his confidence. She heard the door close, signaling the boy had left, and her smile dropped into a worried expression.

"I know," she mumbled. "I know."

* * *

"One more! Just one more and we're done!"

Glue squished onto the paper, which in turn stuck the paper to the piece of poster board.

"Finished!!"

"Yes!"

Both teens shouted happily as their project was finally complete. They'd interviewed many of the teachers, as well as people on the school's staff and random people on the street who were willing to answer their questions.

"Hey guys, what's with the shouting?"

Kairi grinned as the older woman, Sora's mother, stepped into the room. She was tall with long chestnut hair, the only feature she shared with her son. Her eyes were a bright emerald green, and her skin was pale compared to her son's no matter how long she was out in the sun. She was kind in a motherly way and seemed to act as though she were Kairi's mother at times as well as Sora's. But sometimes she seemed a bit secretive and cryptic about her words Sora and Kairi, and it was only ever to them. But both teenagers dismissed it her trying to teach them something about life, or whatever.

"We just finished our project, Mrs. Hikaru!" she exclaimed.

"That's wonderful! And Kairi, I've told you many times you can call me Lily," the older woman said. "Now, I have dinner ready for you both. I bet you've both worked up an appetite from working so hard on your project, so I made a lot. I still have to set the table, so why don't you both clean up a bit before coming down to eat."

"Okay. Thanks mom!" Sora said. Lily grinned at them and left them to clean up. She entered the kitchen and leaned against the counter with a sad smile.

"That boy has grown so much," she said to herself. She reached for a picture in a wooden frame of a man with blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes, her husband. She traced the face of the man with longing.

"I wish you were here to see him. He's done so much better here than he ever would have _there_," she said.

"Such silly sentiments from a traitor like yourself Lily." She froze. No…it couldn't be. They'd found her. They'd found Sora! She turned quickly only to have a key shaped blade upon her neck. She gulped and stared into dull blue eyes.

"Where is he?" he asked. Her attacked was about the size of Sora, with blonde hair in spikes much more controlled than Sora's. He held no real malice or hatred in his features. All she saw was a numbness to cover the small regret and sadness.

"I won't tell you. He deserves a real life, just like you do!" she said with a quivering voice.

"Tch. But there's no one there to save me like they did him," he said a bit bitterly. "And besides, this isn't my choice. Now tell me, where is he?"

"I won't tell you where he is, but I will tell you this," she said, closing her eyes. She knew her time was near. This poor boy had been through so much, the same as Sora. She had to tell him this. "I forgive you for what you're about to do to me. I wish I could have saved you too, and I hope you won't do to Sora as you're going to do to me. Someone will save you one day. Just wait for them."

"Heh. I've already accepted the fact that he won't let me leave him. You know I'd rather not do this, but-" he pulled the blade away from her neck, and stabbed her in the heart, "-it was his orders."

He pulled the bloodied blade from the woman's chest and watched it fall to the ground. The poor thing, she didn't even fight back. Stupid…

* * *

"-it was his orders."

That phrase was all Sora heard while he watched with wide, frightened eyes as his mother fell to the ground. She'd just been stabbed. Right in front of him. And he didn't do a damn thing! But he was too scared to even move now.

Suddenly the blonde boy looked up (Sora noted that he didn't look much older than him), and spotted the brunette standing in the doorway. He couldn't speak even if he tried. He took a step back as the blonde took a step forward.

_Don't…kill me! Don't kill me!_

And then the boy made a leap for Sora, weapon readied to sweep his head from his shoulders. And then Kairi appeared, like an angel, and saved him. The boy stopped his attack, and leapt backwards so as not to hit her.

"Ah…you…" the boy said, throwing a confused look at Kairi. But she payed him no mind as she saw Lily's corpse strewn across the floor behind the blonde boy, along with his bloody blade, and gasped. Tears came to her eyes, but she dared not let the fall in a time like this. The murderer was still here!

The confused expression on the boy's face faded, and a cold expression replaced it. Kairi grabbed Sora's wrist, who was still too much in shock at having seen his mother kill before him and pondering if that boy knew Kairi, and pulled him down the hallway and back up the stairs to his room. The boy took off after them. She closed and locked the door of Sora's room, hoping to keep him out. She felt hysterical, but managed to keep calm enough to look for a place to hide. She shoved Sora into the closet and closed the door behind them. Not two seconds after she had, had the murderer kicked the door in. Silence reigned in, and Sora and Kairi trembled behind the closet door.

Both prayed hard for the boy not to find them. But luck was not on their sides as the boy opened the door, weapon raised to strike. Both teens looked up at him with wide scared eyes, stopping him from bringing his weapon down. His cold mask slipped and uncertainty showed in his face.

He started to bring his weapon down again, but stopped as he saw Kairi cringe and cling onto Sora, and he onto her. He couldn't do it. Not with her there. He'd finally found her, and this was the kind of meeting they get. He sighed and lowered his weapon. He closed the closet door, blocking him from their sight. He jumped out the window and ran. Surely they would call the police, and if he couldn't kill Sora, there was no reason for him to stick around for now. He'd have a long journey home, but then again, he'd always liked to take the scenic route.

He gritted his teeth as he thought of going back. He'd have to tell him _she_ was there. Now it was just a matter of what he'd was them to do with her.

* * *

Kairi shook, staring at the closed door in front of her. She couldn't hear the man in the room anymore. Maybe he'd left…

She looked down at Sora who still had yet to move. His eyes were still wide with fright, and tears would occasionally slide down his cheeks. Oh god, Sora…she had to call the police, the hospital…anyone! She stood, opened the door and ran for the phone, not bothering to check if the murderer was there or not. She dialed with trembling fingers, not even sure if she'd hit the right numbers. She sighed when she heard the click of someone answering.

"Hello, 9-1-1, what's your crisis?" a male voice answered.

"I…I'm at my friend's house…his mom, oh god…" she trailed off, not able to continue. She felt like going into hysterics now. She realized she was back in the kitchen where Lily lay motionless upon the ground. She felt like throwing up at the sight of all the blood.

"Is she alright? Tell me the address and we'll send an ambulance right away," the man said.

"N-no…she…she's dead! He killed her!" she cried. She couldn't look at the body anymore.

"Tell me the address, we'll send police and an ambulance," the man said.

"It-it's 913…Oceanic Drive…please hurry," she said.

"Alright, they're leaving now. Don't worry, they'll be there soon."

"Thank…y-you," she cried.

"Stay calm. Just keep talking to me until they get there, alright?"

"O-okay…" she agreed. But wait! No…she couldn't do that. Her eyes widened, and she looked at the doorway as if she'd seen a sudden movement.

"No…Sora!" she said, dropping the phone from her ear. She didn't bother hanging it up, all she thought of was Sora being alone in that room. That man had tried to kill him, and if he was still there, he would have had enough time to kill Sora!

She burst into the room haphazardly, her eyes immediately darting to the doorway of the closet. Seeing Sora still there and unharmed, she rushed to him. Tears she'd held back before, now fell down her face. She held onto him tightly.

"Sora! Thank god, you're still alright," she mumbled. He made no response to her, and made no movement to return her hug. She pulled away and looked at his face. His expression hadn't changed much.

"Sora…Sora? Sora!" she cried. No, she couldn't lose him!

"Sora!" she shouted one last time, slapping him as she did. His face had turned with the force. Slowly, he raised his head to look at her.

"K-Kairi?" he said slowly. Relieved she got answer out of the shocked boy, she nodded at him. His eyes widened and more tears slipped out of the sapphire gems as he launched himself at her, hugging her fiercely. She hugged held him just as strongly.

Suddenly they heard the front door being kicked in, and both froze, thinking it was the murderer again. Multiple footsteps could be heard, some staying near the front of the house, and a few coming near Sora's room. The door opened to reveal two police officers, one male and the other female. They immediately went to the frightened teenagers. The woman tried to put her hand on Kairi's shoulder so as to tell her that help was there, but the red head lashed out, swatting the hand away.

"No! Stay away!" she cried with wide eyes.

"It's okay hun. We're here to help," the woman told her softly.

"Ah…" Kairi's eyes widened more, this time with relief. She turned to Sora and shook him. "Sora…we're safe now. It's okay…it's okay..."

Sora looked up at her, and Kairi hugged him again. The officers looked at each other, then at the two teenagers with sympathy. This was too much for people as young as them to have gone through.

* * *

The small group of people stood surrounding the deep rectangular hole that had been dug earlier that day. It looked so neat, and soon it would be filled once again. A patch in the earth that had been moved and replaced that no one would remember again except for a few select people. Sora stared at the ugly gray headstone at the top of the rectangle, his mother's name etched on it. Underneath was the years she'd lived, not something he wanted his eyes to linger on, and the words 'Loving wife, caring mother'. Just like every other damn grave of every dead mother in this cemetery.

He felt a hand grip his limp one and squeeze it in what was supposed to be a comforting way. And it was. He squeezed right back, knowing the owner of the hand would need some form of comfort as well. The auburn haired girl next to him sniffed and held back her tears as best she could so as not to look like a blubbering idiot, just like he was. But both she and Sora knew they would be blubbering idiots when they were alone, so they would give each other comfort as much as they could for now, and hold it in until then.

Sora barely heard what the people, relatives and friends of his mom's, had to say as the coffin was brought to the grave. He watched the box intently, in somewhat denial of his mother's death. He knew she was dead, yet he wanted so much to believe she was just playing a cruel joke on him, and she would simply pop out of the cold wooden box at any moment, and he would run to her and she would hug him. And they'd laugh, and everything would be back to normal. He'd find out that he'd only had a nightmare about a murderer induced by watching scary movies earlier that day with Kairi.

But he also knew it wouldn't happen. No matter how much he wanted it, it wouldn't. The dead can't come back to life, and his mom was…dead.

The cold wooden box was finally all the way within the hole in the ground before the headstone, but the speakers weren't finished. He felt Kairi grip his hand a bit tighter as they began shoveling the dirt back into the hole.

Why did they have to do that in front of everyone? Why did they have to watch them bury his mother? The only person of his family left alive? Did they really want to pound it into his head that she was dead, and she was not coming back anytime soon? Sora closed his eyes and turned his head away. Finally the preacher began speaking again to close the ceremony. He blessed the spirit of Sora's mother and wished her safe passage to the heavens, and silently, so did Sora.

And then footsteps could be heard and quiet murmurs of the departing people. Soon it was only he and Kairi left. Their hands were still holding onto each other, wanting some grounding to reality. The others had been there, but they decided the pair needed some time alone. Sora sighed after ten minutes of staring at the grave, and turned to Kairi who had yet to move her gaze.

"You can go if you want Kairi," he said softly. "I'll be fine by myself."

She shook her head, but did not remove her gaze from the headstone.

"It's okay. I want to stay here. I feel like I need to, and besides, I want to be here for you," she told him. He nodded, and they stood in silence for a few more minutes.

"You know…even though I hadn't known her long, she still left such an impact on me," Kairi said quietly. "It feels almost as though I'd known her even before you introduced me to her and…it was like meeting an old friend that you don't quite remember, but you know you're happy to see them."

Sora didn't answer her right away, not quite sure how to answer to that.

"I…see. I'm sure she felt the same way," he said finally. "She really liked you Kairi, so I'm glad she got to meet you."

"Thanks Sora." She squeezed his hand again. A faint pink dusted his cheeks.

"No prob." He squeezed her hand right back.


	4. To the Carnival we Go!

**Memory 4: To the Carnival we Go!**

"That's the last one," Riku said with a sigh as he placed a medium sized box upon the ground. They were moving Sora's things into his room since he couldn't exactly live in the house all alone. Especially when the murderer hadn't been found yet. Sora shuddered at the thought, and quickly pushed it to the back of his mind. Riku gave him a concerned stare.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Just peachy," Sora replied, grin on his face. He shouldn't think of…_those_ things. He should focus on what he was doing at the moment, and that was unpacking. Riku stared at his friend with a bit of a frown.

"I'll be back in a minute okay? I have to go meet someone," he said. Sora looked up and tilted his head with a curious expression.

"Who?"

"Just Selphie. It's nothing new. She wanted to know something."

"Oh. Well don't be hitting on her. You know Tidus would be furious," Sora joked.

"Yeah, yeah. He always hates that," Riku replied with a smirk. "Besides, she's not the one I like." This made Sora very curious. _The _Riku Harada liked someone. It was a strange, new concept to Sora to hear that his friend actually liked someone with that hardened heart of his. It was very curious indeed.

"Oh? You like someone now? Who?" he asked eagerly. The silverette's cheeks tinted pink, allowing Sora to see he really did like someone. But the boy would never admit it. even if he already had indirectly.

"N-no," he stuttered. "I don't like anyone."

"But you just said Selphie wasn't the one you liked, so therefore you must have _someone_ that you do like!" Sora retorted. Damn Sora and his random perceptiveness!

"No, I don't," Riku managed to say a little stronger than last time.

"But-"

"Just drop it Sora. I'm gonna be late anyway, so I have to go," he said, cutting Sora off from pestering him anymore than he already had. The brunette rolled his eyes with a smirk.

"Yeah, yeah sure. You know I'll find out sooner or later," he said.

"Whatever," Riku replied over his shoulder as he walked out of the room.

* * *

"_Quietly. Come on, now's our chance."_

Who…was that? She felt heavy and limp. But she was moving…what was going on?

"_This way!"_

Maybe someone was carrying her…yeah. That had to be it. But there was more than one voice…and where was she going? Where was she? She tried to open her eyes, but it felt like such a struggle to do. They felt like lead. She gave up for then. Too tired.

She could hear someone breathing fairly hard, as if they'd been running a long time. It was near her head. Who was it? Were they the one carrying her? Why was she being carried? She felt like she should know the answers to those questions, but none came to her. She wanted to see. She struggled to open her eyes once again, and succeeded this time. But no images came to her.

They were all in a blur. Things moved in a fast pace all around her signaling that she was moving just as quickly. Nothing focused enough to allow her to see her surroundings. Her sapphire hues moved upwards to see someone was indeed carrying her, but she couldn't feel the arms holding her limp body or see the face through the haze. She found her hand moving up towards the face to touch the cheek. Her hand was there but she couldn't feel the warmth of the skin. It was like touching air. The person looked down at her with a face she couldn't quite discern, but she got the feeling they were smiling at her. And it felt oddly reassuring as a feeling of familiarity washed over her.

"_It's okay. You'll be safe soon,"_ the person said to her. Safe from what? What was going on?

Suddenly the person stopped as the voices of people shouting reached her ears. She didn't know what they were saying, but soon she heard gunshots. And then she felt gravity pulling her to the floor along with the person carrying her.

* * *

Selphie shook her red haired roommate. Damn this girl was a heavy sleeper. What was up with that? Eventually Kairi's eyes opened slowly, and Selphie let out a sigh.

"Finally! Sleeping beauty's awake!" Selphie cried.

"Huhnn…?" Kairi said groggily. She sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Selphie?"

"Yeppers!" the brunette said happily. "Now get dressed! We have to meet Riku in about five minutes."

"What?! Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" Kairi demanded. She tossed the covers off her body and jumped from her bed into the bathroom. She took the fastest shower she'd ever had, brushed her teeth, and got dressed in the first things she saw. Her outfit consisted of a sky blue shirt with clouds and hearts drawn on it that said 'Love is in the air, and it's high above the clouds', jean shorts, and a pair of flip-flops. She grabbed a necklace with a single shell stringed on it and tied it around her neck, and then put on a few bracelets.

Finally done, she whirled around to look at the clock. She grinned in finding she was only about a minute or two over the five Selphie had said.

"Well now that you're ready, let's get going!" the brunette said, pulling her friend out of the room.

* * *

Riku sighed. Selphie was late, and she'd been the one to ask him to meet her. What could she be doing anyway?

As he thought this, a familiar brunette, the same he'd been waiting for, appeared followed by a certain red head that held his affections at the moment. Selphie waved to him, shouting her greetings.

"What took you?" he asked as the approached him.

"Sleeping beauty here wouldn't get up, so I had to wait for her," Selphie told him. Kairi blushed and pushed supine.

"Hey! You could have gotten me up earlier!" she cried, pouting at her friend. Riku laughed.

"Why'd you drag me here anyway?" Kairi asked.

"You wanted to help Sora right?" Selphie replied. "Well that's why you two are here."

"What do you have in mind exactly?" Riku asked.

"There's a carnival coming here today. Their opening day is tomorrow," Selphie told them.

"And you think we should take Sora there!" Kairi finished. Selphie nodded happily.

"That could work," Riku said, thoughtfully.

"Alright! We'll all go tomorrow then," the red head exclaimed. "Could you not tell him though, Riku? I think it should be a surprise for him!"

"Yeah! That would make it even better!" Selphie agreed.

"Uh…sure," Riku mumbled. He was getting a bit jealous of the attention Kairi was giving Sora, but batted the idea away, knowing the boy needed it more than himself.

"Okay! We'll see you tomorrow because Kairi and I are having a girl's day today!" Selphie said.

"And when was this decided?" the red head asked, raising her eyebrows. Selphie had made no mention of a 'girl's day' before now.

"Just now, so come on! We're burning daylight here!" the brunette cried, and began to pull Kairi away from Riku.

"Ah! Uh…bye Riku! See you tomorrow!" Kairi shouted over her shoulder as she was dragged away. He simply waved after them until they were once again out of sight, and then he frowned. He began to walk back into the boy's dorms, trying to get the expression off of his face. Jealousy was an annoying emotion.

* * *

"Riikuuu! Where are we going?" Sora whined. Riku wasn't telling him anything, just dragging him off someplace.

"You'll know when we get there Sora so stop whining," Riku said, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice. They were almost there.

Sora sighed. Riku could be such a grouch sometimes. All he wanted to know was where they were going. And they could have invited Kairi along too. Sora fought a blush as he thought that. _I mean…she's just been hanging around us so much lately it would be the most reasonable choice! Yeah! That's it,_ Sora thought, trying to reason why her name popped into his head first. But it was failing miserably. He knew he liked Kairi, but he didn't want to admit it. He was too afraid he'd lose her too. The police were still after the guy that killed his mom after all…

Riku looked back at his brunette friend, concerned about the boy's quietness from the last few minutes. The boy usually continued on with his whining even if Riku told him to stop. His change in attitude worried him. He saw a sad look on the boy's face and felt suddenly bad for being jealous of the boy. Sora really did deserve the attention more than him. He sighed, and looked back to where he was heading.

"…Hey, we'll be there soon so don't get all depressed, okay?" Riku said without looking at his friend. Sora's head shot up as he heard his friend talk. He smiled and laughed a bit.

"You know I'm not one to get depressed Riku," Sora said. Riku laughed with him, and grinned as their destination came into sight.

"We're here Sora," he said. Said brunette looked up at the wonders in front of him in awe, his eyes widening with excitement. Oh this was worth the wait to know where they were going.

"Sora! Riku! Over here!" Kairi called as the pair came in view. Selphie was off getting cotton candy, and now that she thought of it…Selphie probably shouldn't get it. That girl definitely didn't need any more sugar. Damn…

"Kairi! I didn't know you'd be here!" Sora exclaimed as they approached the red head. She giggled as he gave her a hug.

"Well, we wanted this all to be a surprise, so we asked Riku not to tell you anything. Selphie's here too," she told him.

"What about me?"

"Hey Selphie!" Sora said with a grin. He hugged the brunette, which she returned quickly, glad to see him happy and smiling and just enjoying himself.

"Sora!" she squealed. "Glad to see Riku got you here!"

"What? You think I couldn't get him to come?" Riku said, putting a hand to his chest with a fake hurt expression on his face. Selphie just nodded.

"I feel insulted!" he said, moving his hand to his head and pretending to faint. Sora and Kairi laughed.

"Well, when Riku's done 'fainting' can we go on some rides?" Kairi asked.

"Oh! Oh! Roller coaster first! Roller coaster first!" Selphie said. She then proceeded to grab everyone's hands (how she managed to do that with only two hands, none of them knew), and drag them to the nearest, fastest, and highest roller coaster there. Sora grinned. Today was going to be a _really_ good day.

* * *

"Here, it's this way," her spiky haired friend said. Riku and Selphie had already gone back to the dorms, saying they were tired. Riku she could understand, but Selphie being tired? Honestly, it sounded weird to her when the normally hyper girl said that. _But everyone gets tired sometime. So I guess it's not so strange. Maybe she just hadn't had enough sugar today…no, never mind, she had enough sugar. After that cotton candy at the beginning she had a bunch of those large pixy stix, more cotton candy, funnel cake, and some other things I don't remember. But I know they were full of sugar. Thinking on it now, that girl can eat a lot,_ she thought.

"Kairi! Come on!" Sora said, snapping her out of thought. She shook her head. She got distracted too easily…

"Huh? Oh, coming!" she said. She followed after the boy, crawling through a hole in the rock wall. Sora had led her to the beach, wanting to show her something suddenly.

"There might not be that much light in here since the suns about to set now, but I still want to show you this," he told her over his shoulder as they went through a small tunnel. Kairi simply nodded. She'd never noticed this place whenever she came here. Then again, it was covered pretty well by bushes and the vines that clung to the stones of the wall. Finally out of the tunnel, Kairi gasped. It was a small cave with a hole in the roof, allowing light to enter. She looked at the walls and saw scribbling and drawings all over. The drawings looked like designs someone had once thought of to put there. Kairi thought it looked amazing for a hidden cave.

"Wow…" was all Kairi said as she absorbed everything. Sora grinned, knowing she liked it.

"The drawings on the walls were there when I found this place. That was about… two years ago I think," the brunette said. She looked up through the hole in the roof at the darkening sky.

"It must be beautify at night," she commented. Sora nodded.

"You can see a lot of stars through the roof. I used to come here all the time. None of the others know about this place," he said.

"Then why are you showing me this place?" she asked with a confused expression.

"I… trust you. I don't know why, but I guess I feel like you need someplace like this and I felt like finally sharing this place with someone else. It gets kind of lonely here sometimes," he told her. _But it wouldn't be lonely at all is you were with me…_

He gave her a genuine smile. He wished he could tell her, but no… that was something he wouldn't have the courage to do, ever. Or at least not now anyway. Maybe at this year's dance, he'd be able to…

"Thanks."

They looked up as the first stars began to blink and shine above their heads. Both smiled at the moment they were sharing together. Sora began to reach for Kairi's hand, but stopped himself. There'd be no excuse fo why he did it, and he didn't want to risk it. He sighed and took his hand back, only for it to be grabbed by the hand he'd been wanting to hold. He was surprised, but he smiled anyway. They squeezed each other's hands like they had at the funeral, letting them know the other was there for them. And for that moment, both were content with the simple contact of another.

**

* * *

**

**A/N:** Hey everyone. Finally got this chapter done. I really don't like it, but whatever. I feel like this is moving really slowly, but I wanted to show the development of Kairi's relationships with both Riku and Sora. The Sora's mom getting killed by Roxas thing is important to the story though, and wasn't just randomly thrown in there for drama or angst or whatever. I _do_ have a plot people, and it's been planned out this time. Okay, so one or two more chapters to go, and this story should start moving faster. Hang on until then guys. Please review too! I feel so unloved since I only have one review, but I love you **Sierra Stonesheild** for reviewing , even if it was only once. But for anyone who just reads this, thank you for that too. So once again, review please. Flames will be used to roast my marshmellows.

**Disclaimer:** don't own Kingdom Hearts or its characters. They are amazing though...


	5. Decision, Decision

**Memory 5: Decision, Decision**

"It's almost here! It's almost here!" Selphie squealed as she burst into her dorm room. Kairi had been working on a paper on her laptop when the brunette came in, and eagerly took to the distraction. She set aside her work so it wouldn't be within the line of fire of her seemingly hyper friend.

"What's almost here?" she asked.

"The Dance of Destiny! Ooooh! I can't wait!" Selphie squealed again.

"What's the Dance of Destiny? Sounds romantic, but it has a corny name." Selphie stared at the red head with disbelieving eyes and pouted.

"Only the most fun part of the year! Besides the last day of school, of course. And don't make fun of the name, that's what it's been since the school started having one each year," the brunette explained. "It's a dance Destiny High holds every year. All grades are able to attend. We all get to dress up and dance to funky music. We'll definitely have a DJ this year. Last year we didn't have a very good dance committee, so it wasn't all that exciting. But I'm on it this year, so I'll make sure it's amazing. Especially since it's your first time to one, and I know there's _someone_ you liiiike!"

Kairi blushed at the girl's comment. Selphie couldn't know…she'd never told anyone! "Th-there isn't anyone…"

"Oh sure. Keep telling yourself that. But we all know you've got your eye on someone," Selphie said with a smirk. Kairi rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. What about you and Tidus then, huuuh?" she remarked.

"I'll ask him, and I'll be confident about it. I'm not about to hide my feelings for him from you," Selphie said simply, surprising her roommate. "What?"

"No, nothing. I'm glad you're secure about your feelings then," Kairi told her. Selphie nodded and moved to look through her stacks of books and paper.

"Here it is!" she sang as she pulled a manila folder from the mess with a grin. She noticed Kairi's curious gaze and smirked.

"Nah ah ah!" she said, wagging her finger. "Top secret! It's for the dance, and only committee members are allowed to see the plans for now." Kairi laughed.

"Okay. I won't pester you about it then. I hope it goes well though," she said.

"Me too. But don't worry. Everything will be fine!" Selphie exclaimed before waving to her roommate and leaving to attend another meeting.

"At least…that's what I hope," she whispered. No matter what she did, she had a bad feeling about the approaching date. As she walked down the halls, she hoped whatever it was wouldn't have anything to do with her friends or the dance.

* * *

It was about a week until the dance, and everything was going smoothly for the committee. Three other girls on the committee, Yuna, Rikku, and Paine, were handling decorations, so she didn't have to worry about that. All she had to worry about was endorsement for the dance around school and vote tallies for the Fates of Destiny **(1)**. But that wouldn't be too hard. She had to see who the nominees were first so she could announce who they were during lunch today. And after that, she would finally gather up the courage to ask Tidus to the dance! 

Selphie felt so giddy, nervous butterflies fluttered around in her stomach making her want to forget asking him. But no, she wouldn't listen to that little spark of doubt in her mind. The doubt that continually screamed the blonde boy only liked her as a friend and nothing more, that whispered in her ears constantly that he had already asked someone, or he had his eye on another girl. She wouldn't listen to it, and hopefully everything would turn out okay. It had to. She walked into the classroom where a familiar vibrant haired male sat sorting slips of paper into piles.

"Hey Wakka! How's everything going?" she asked, sitting next to the boy.

"Lots of nominees, ya? There's a lot for Kairi though, Riona too," he told her.

"Well I'm happy for Kairi. Riona's kind of annoying though," Selphie commented. Wakka laughed, but continued his sorting.

"You just mad cause she didn't want you as a roommate," he said. She pouted at the comment, making the boy laugh more to know he'd guessed right.

"So? You have to admit, Riona can be annoying," she said.

"Ya, but so can you," he replied.

"But you love me for it," she said, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Ya, ya," he said, waving his hand in dismissal. He gathered all the papers, and handed her the results of the nominations. "Here you go. Gonna announce it at lunch?"

"Mm-hmm! Hey do you know what Tiddy's doing then?"

"I think he was gonna do something but he didn't tell me. Why you ask?"

"Uh, no reason. I needed to ask him something, but it can wait," the brunette sighed as she stood.

"Well, I hope ya find him then. See you at lunch Selphie," Wakka said.

"Bye Wakka," she said. She closed the door behind her. She'd have to find him after lunch then. First she had to hang up some fliers around the school. Now…where could she find some tape…?

* * *

Kairi sighed as she closed her laptop. She was finally done with the stupid report. She'd always hated Social Studies, and research papers just made it worse. But it was done now, so she didn't have to worry about it anymore. One less thing to worry about. She sighed quietly and got up from her bed where she'd been typing for almost two and a half hours. She needed some fresh air and a way to stretch her cramped muscles, so she decided to go take a walk. Writing a note so Selphie would know where she went if the girl came back to the room, she left for the beach. 

She grinned as she felt sand seep between her toes. She'd taken off her sandals earlier. She always felt more comfortable bare foot when she came to the beach. Originally she planned to go to the secret cave Sora had shown her, but seeing that no one was there, she decided she liked it better outside where she could watch the tide come in and out. She had the place to herself. She was free to think without distraction. And she needed it too. So many things were floating through her mind, bouncing around in her skull in such an unorganized fashion that it was beginning to give her a headache.

She knew she liked him. Even Selphie knew and she'd never told the girl. But he seemed to act like he always did around her, so she couldn't tell if he liked her back. Maybe she should ask him like Selphie was going to ask Tidus…no. She could never do that.

No matter how confident she seemed, she was too nervous even just thinking about it. And if that was the case, there was no way in hell she'd be able to gather the courage Selphie had. Thinking of this, she suddenly had more respect for the girl. To be able to simply go up to that one person out like and say-

"Will you go to the dance with me?"

-like someone who was confident that the answer would be, "Yes," and then-

"Great."

Kairi whirled around with wide eyes and stared at her silver haired friend. "W-what?" she stuttered, not even aware that she'd just said yes to his question or that he'd even asked.

"You just said you'd go to the dance with me. Jeez, you're spacing out more than Sora does," he told her. Shit…she did not mean to do that…

"Uh…oh. Um, Riku, I…" she mumbled.

"What? You don't want to go?" he asked, a concerned expression on his face. She looked into his eyes and melted. Even if he wasn't the one she wanted to ask, she couldn't turn Riku down.

"N-no. I do. Thanks for asking," she said, feeling a bit awkward. Riku grinned.

"I'm glad," he said sincerely. He then turned to and began to head back the way he came, shouting over his shoulder, "I'll see you at lunch!"

Kairi sighed and watched the silverette's back as he disappeared down the shoreline. When he was gone, she looked back out at the ocean and sat down on the hot sand. Even if she were going with a friend, she'd have a good time. She'd had fun with Riku before, so why would it be any different at a dance. For now, she wouldn't worry about the dance anymore.

But even as she told herself this, she couldn't stop thinking about the one she wished had asked her…

* * *

"Hey guys," Sora said as he sat down. His friends replied with simple greetings, too busy eating their food to put much into a conversation. He set down his tray of…food in front of him. None of them knew quite what it was, but apparently it was supposed to be turkey and mashed potatoes covered in a gravy sauce. It resembled what they'd been told it was, but one could never be too sure with cafeteria food. Kairi commented one time that she'd seen worse lunches at some of the other schools she'd gone to and that even if they didn't know what the hell it was, it was still edible. They believed her, but were still cautious about eating it. One could never be too careful with this kind of thing. 

Riku had yet to join them, and Kairi felt semi nervous about being around him after he'd asked her to the dance. What would _he _think if Riku started talking about it in front of them? She bounced her leg unconsciously from her restless nerves, but stopped as Sora tapped her shoulder. "Hmm?"

"Um…Kairi, can I ask you something?" he whispered. Her cheeks tinted pink at his close range.

"S-sure. What is it?" she replied. The brunette boy opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted as Riku appeared out of nowhere.

"Hello friends," he said in an uncharacteristically loud and friendly way. The four gave the boy strange looks making him instantly awkward. "Uh…can't a guy say hi to his friends?"

"It's not that…" Tidus began.

"You just seem really happy today, man," Wakka finished. Riku gave them a blank stare before shrugging and sitting down.

"Uh, so you were saying?" Kairi said to Sora. She was anxious to know what he would say to her, but she feared that if he asked her to the dance, she'd have to turn him down since she'd already agreed to go with Riku. Sora sighed, preparing himself for what he'd wanted to do for a while, but found himself once again interrupted, this time by his hyper brunette friend.

"All right everyone. It's time to find out who the nominees for the Fates of Destiny are!" Selphie sang happily into the microphone. Her voice crackled through the speakers in the cafeteria, immediately silencing everyone who cared about the nominations. Some who didn't continued their conversations in quiet murmurs. Teenagers of different ages all waited anxiously for the brunette to continue.

"For the boys, the nominees are…Sephiroth Cattivan, Jack Skellington, Peter Pan, Tidus Kusagi, and Riku Karada who, by the way ladies, has yet to ask a girl to the dance!"

Tidus, Wakka, Selphie, Sora, and Kairi all cheered for Riku, glad he'd been nominated. Meanwhile, many girls were watching the silverette with a possessive glare in their eyes, ready to pounce once the announcements ended.

"For the girls we have…Riona Heartily, Yuna Aoki, Tifa Lockhart, Rikku Matsumoto, and Kairi Loire! Please make sure to cast your vote for your favorite at the dance and remember, you only get to vote once, so make it count! Thank you for your time, and enjoy your lunch!" The group would have congratulated Kairi like they had Riku, but were stopped by something mobbing the table, or more accurately: Riku.

Immediately after the last announcement, girls bombarded the friend's table. All of them cried out for Riku to pick them as his date to the dance and clung to him desperately. The silverette's friends laughed at his current predicament, none willing to get ripped to pieces by the mob to help the poor boy. Riku's eyes met Kairi's, obviously pleading for help from the girl. She tried to look away, but knew she had to help him. She sighed and prepared herself to brave the mob. First, get the mob's attention!

Placing her thumb and forefinger within her mouth she whistled loud and long, causing the rabid girls to turn and look at her. Immediately she cut her way through the crowd to Riku and slung an arm over his shoulder. She glanced at Sora then back to the crowd. _Sorry Sora…_

"Hey! What are you doing with Riku you skank?" a girl cried out.

"Nothing…except protecting my date from a rabid mob," Kairi replied simply.

"Whaaat!?" the mob shouted. She rolled her eyes.

"That's right. This skank has been asked earlier today by the lovely Riku to be his date to the dance so back off bitches!" she shouted right back. One would expect teachers to have come running in by now, but they weren't coming anytime soon. Oh no. They were having too much fun watching.

"It's not true!" one girl protested. Many followed after that, noise level rising again before Kairi whistled again.

"Hey!" she shouted, gaining their attention again. "Ask him if you don't believe me." She pointed to Riku.

"It's true, every word of it," Riku told them sheepishly. He wouldn't admit it, but he was scared of getting mobbed again. Those girls were scary! And so, with that said the crowd of hormonally challenged girls slunk away, grumbling about the unfairness of life. Riku turned to Kairi with a grateful look on his face.

"Thanks Kai. I thought they were gonna kill me," he said in relief. She gave him a smile and took her seat by Sora once again.

"No problem. You just seemed so desperate and helpless that I just _had_ to help you," she told him. The others laughed, but Sora stayed unusually silent. Kairi noticed this and threw him a concerned look.

"You okay?"

"Huh?" he said, snapping out of his dazed condition. "Oh, um…yeah. I'm fine. Just spacing out." Kairi giggled.

"Okay. Just making sure," she said. "Oh yeah, you wanted to ask me something right?"

No…he couldn't ask her now. He was too late now. He sighed and mumbled, "It's not important."

"It seemed pretty important before, so tell me already," she pestered. Sora looked at her with a sheepish grin (fake of course, he could hear his heart breaking in the background) and scratched the back of his neck.

"No really. It wasn't that important. It was…something about the homework, but I remembered that I already did it, so I'm fine now," he lied.

"Oh…well, okay," she said, inwardly disappointed at his reason. She wanted Sora to ask her to the dance, but then, even if he had, she'd have had to reject him. And that was something she hoped she wouldn't have to do. Sora stood from his seat, causing questioning glances to be thrown at him.

"I'm done so I'm gonna go take a walk out in the commons," he told them. He left without looking for their reactions. He didn't want to be near Kairi or Riku for a while. It hurt too much now to think that she liked Riku, or that he stood no chance against his silver haired friend. And it was the truth that he was no competition for the boy. Girls had always been more attracted to Riku's quieter, calmer nature than his own spontaneous and childlike attitude. They would say he was cute while Riku was hot; that he was adorable while Riku was cool. Sora looked down at his feet with a sigh, stopping in his tracks.

Maybe…maybe that was why Kairi had said yes to Riku. That must be it. She liked Riku, and there was nothing he could do about it. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly to prevent tears from escaping down his cheeks. _She likes him…not me,_ he thought as he forced himself to walk once more, this time heading for his room. He tried not to think about the fact that he shared that room with the very person who stole his precious person's affections away from him. But he couldn't blame Riku. He was the boy's best friend after all, and he deserved some happiness in his life.

But even as all of these thoughts flew through his mind, he could still hear his heart breaking in the background. It was to be expected with the circumstances. But he wanted Kairi to be happy, so he wouldn't interfere. After all, he really loved her, and if she was happy with Riku, what could he do…?

* * *

The old door squeaked on its hinges, as it slowly swung open. An eerie feeling surrounded the entire place, but all of the inhabitants were accustomed to the atmosphere. The blonde teen stepped into the room he'd been in many times before, the news he had to tell weighed heavy on his mind. But it was something he was obligated to do, whether he wanted to or not. Naminé still didn't know what he was about to tell their master. He hadn't seen her when he arrived, nor had he seen her on his way to the man's chambers. He knew he'd tell her after this if she didn't already know. She was always perceptive like that, but he doubted she could figure out what he had to tell her this time. 

"Were you successful?" a cold, deep voice asked.

"Only in killing the traitor. The failure is still alive," Roxas replied. He was void of any emotion. He felt nothing towards this man except loathing, so why shouldhe be kind enough to show emotion towards him in anyway in his face and voice?

"I see…so you've failed me. Can you tell me why you've dared to even come before me with this useless information?" the man asked. He was strangely calm, and it sent chills down the blonde's spine. He wouldn't admit to it nor would he let it show, but he knew it was there.

"The police had come by then, and I didn't think you wanted yourself to be revealed by then so I left before finishing the job," Roxas replied. It wasn't the complete truth, but it wasn't an outright lie. The police _had _been on their way, even though it was after he'd left. He could feel the killer intent dripping off of the man towards him. Roxas sighed; he knew he had to tell the man before he got killed for his failure. "But...I don't have completely ueless information to give you. There was also an object of your interest there, after all."

This statement simmered the man down. Roxas sighed inwardly. He was safe for now.

"Oh? And what might you think would interest me?" the man asked.

"Your precious experiment," he said. "The one that you need to complete your plans."

The man's eyebrows shot up in surprise at this new information. Slowly his lips turned up into a large smirk as his mind began to experiment with ideas formed by this new addition.

"Ah…_her_," he began, chuckling a bit to himself. That alone was enough to give Roxas more chills, but added to it was the way he'd said it. God, he just wished he could leave this place.

"I have many plans I could use her for. I guess we'll have to pick her up then. I _have _been missing her so, and I'm sure she'll be glad to see us again, don't you think Roxas?" the man said, giving out a loud cackle of laughter.

"S-sure," Roxas mumbled. He turned to leave, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He had to resist the urge to shudder at the contact.

"Come back tomorrow after you've rested for your assignment," the man told him. "You'll be the first to see her…"

Roxas said nothing and waited for the man to let him go, hearing him cackle once again. When he did, Roxas tried his best to keep himself from sprinting out of the room. He made it to the door and managed to close it behind him before running to his room.

He shut the door quickly behind him, not caring whether or not it made a loud slamming sound in the process. He slid down the door until he was sitting on the floor. He rested his face in his hand in disbelief. He knew he had to do it, but he felt so guilty now that he had. She'd already gotten away, why couldn't he have just let her stay away!

His fist clenched and he hit the tile floor beneath him in frustration. God, what had he done? _Kairi…I'm so sorry…_

* * *

**A/N:** Another chapter done! I've been meaning to upload this for like, three days, but I've had no time, and when I do, my cousin and sister steal my computer for hours on end. But enough about that. This got a little hard for me to write, and when I read over it I really don't like how I wrote everything except maybe the beginning...maybe. But I don't think I could write it any better than how it is now even if I wanted to. Which sucks because I think it was pretty crappily written. But that's my opinion. Please review people. It makes me so sad to know that I've only gotten one review after five chapters! I promise this is going to get more interesting, so just hang in there. I know this is going slow, but it'll speed up soon (at least I think it will). Once again, please review! Don't care if you flame either for it will be used for s'mores. 

**Fates of Destiny- **It's like prom king and queen, but they call them the 'Fates of Destiny' since it isn't prom and the school is named Destiny High. Don't ask me how I came up with it or if has a meaning behind it because it just came to me. If I feel like putting an explanation about it in the story, you'll read about it then. Otherwise, you won't learn anything more about it.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its lovely characters...only thing I own is this plot line


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